British singer Lily Allen performs at the Glastonbury Festival 2009 in south west England 27 June 2009. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

Lily Allen will headline the opening night of this years Latitude Festival instead of Two Door Cinema Club.

The Sheezus singer will step in, headlining the Obelisk arena tonight, to replace the Irish band after they were forced to cancel dates when frontman Alex Trimble collapsed at Seattle airport, on the way to London.

Trimble has since been reportedly hospitalised and the band is now unable to perform their headline slot at the forthcoming music event, starting tonight at Henham Park in Suffolk, Eastern England.

Allen, 29, whose latest album Sheezus reached No 1 in the UK album charts, said she is happy and excited to fill in for the band instead.

"So sorry to hear about Alex from Two Door Cinema Club. However I am more than happy to step in.

"I've never been to Latitude but I hear it's fabulous and I can't wait to get my heels on for some serious dancing action on Friday evening – so, so excited."

In addition to adding Lily to the line-up, festival organisers are also planning to make up for the loss of the former headliners by promising fans a surprise guest performance.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic which runs the event, said: "We are honoured that Lily Allen is able to step in at the last minute and would like to thank her for filling the headline slot.

"After her show-stopping performance at Glastonbury, Lily was a natural choice, the Latitude audience are in for something really spectacular."

In its ninth year, 2014's Latitude will also feature headline sets from Damon Albarn and The Black Keys. While other acts scheduled to appear include Kelis, Editors and George Ezra.